AIKEN, S.C. – The Lander men's basketball team was unable to contain the long-range scoring of the USC Aiken Pacers, as the Bearcats fell 81-73 at the Aiken Convocation Center.

Lander now sits at 1-2 overall while Aiken moves to 1-1 with the win.

Lander was led by junior Jermaine Patterson, who put up 32 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field. Patterson also hauled in seven rebounds and two steals to go along with his scoring prowess. The Bearcats also saw senior Deon Berrien and freshman Sebastian Augustave hit double figures as well. Berrien scored 14 points along with five blocks and three rebounds while Augustave scored 11 points along with five rebounds and two steals. Senior LaRaymond Spivery also put together a strong showing, as he contributed seven points and rebounds.

The Blue and Gold shot 41.7 percent from the field and 30 percent from beyond the arc for the game.

For the third consecutive game, Lander notched 30 or more points in the paint.

The Pacers did most of their damage from beyond the arc, shooting 14-of-28 from long-range and 26-of-58 from the field. Aiken's 3-point shooting equated to over 50 percent of its total points. Although featuring four players in double-figures, the main threat was Anyeuri Castillo, who led the Pacers with 23 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

Lander came out of the gates running, taking a 3-0 lead off the bat before Aiken would respond with a 10-2 run to establish the lead for the rest of the contest.

The Bearcats got within four of the Pacers just once, as a 3-pointer from Augustave at 10:32 of the first half made it 16-12 Aiken.

Although not helping them pick up the win, the Bearcats did improve on their rebounding compared to the last time these two teams played. The Bearcats hauled in 42 rebounds along with 14 offensive rebounds compared to the 29 total from Aiken.

Shooting considerably better in the second half, Lander went 17-of-35 from the field and a near-perfect 10-of-11 from the charity stripe.

The second half started well for the Bearcats, with Lander heating up with a 13-6 run within the first four minutes that featured six points coming from Patterson to put the Bearcats at 47-40.

Lander was able to get within six of Aiken after Berrien hit a jumper with 5:56 remaining to make it a 65-59 contest. However, that would be the closest the Blue and Gold would get to the Pacers in the second half.

After a three-game road trip, the Bearcats head back to Horne Arena to host Mars Hill on December 17 for a 2 pm tip-off.

#cLawsUp | @LanderMBB